cable

If you switched cable providers for the express purpose of being able to watch TV on your gaming console, then hopefully the companies AT&T and Microsoft were not part of that decision. AT&T has dropped its U-verse TV service from the Xbox 360, but it's only temporary as the company says it wants to tweak the service so that it can "improve and enhance this functionality."

If you're a Dish Network subscriber, you may be all too familiar with the repeated threats that the cable channel AMC might be dropped from its lineup. Of course, pay TV operators and content providers go through this song and dance every time a new contract is up for renewal. But this may be the first time we've heard such a blunt argument as for why the cable operator isn't willing to pay a lot of money for a network - because Netflix is making the network worth less.

I’ve often been asked by friends and family that have made the leap if I would ever consider cutting out cable television, ditching my service with my provider, and moving into the great, cord-cutting frontier. Those who press me say that if I make the move, I’ll be able to enjoy nearly all the same entertainment, but I will no longer need to pay Time Warner Cable for the, uh, privilege, of using its service.

In a study that potentially seems too forward-thinking to be useful, analyst group NPD has determined that eight years from now, the average cable or satellite TV bill will be $200 per household. In 2011, it was $86. Of course, there are viable questions about whether or not cable as we know it will even exist that far in the future, but the point of the study is to show that increased competition is not at all driving down the cost of pay TV.

Last year, services like Netflix and Hulu provided enough entertainment for more than a million people in the US to cancel their cable or satellite TV subscriptions. That brings the total number of people who have made such a move to 2.65 million since 2008. These are people who specifically said they canceled pay TV service because they were switching to Web-based video options.

In what seems like an unusual turn of events at first glance, the head of Netflix is taking to social media to talk about wanting to access HBO Go, not as a competing company executive but as a normal guy who just likes good entertainment. It's a very weird thing to see Hastings post on Facebook, since he has been very vocal about saying that HBO is Netflix's biggest competitor. But then again, his Facebook post is actually more focused on criticizing Comcast.

After coming under fire for its Xbox Live streaming service, which apparently tapped into a private IP network, because of potential net neutrality issues. Critics slammed the service because in the Xbox Live FAQ, Comcast said its content was "being delivered over our private IP network and not the public Internet." That raised concerns that Comcast was not playing by the rules of the Federal Communications Commission (FCC).

Even though every single major broadcast network has pending legal action against Aereo, the company nevertheless launched its service as promised, today in New York City. Aereo is a groundbreaking platform that takes existing free antenna signals from the metropolitan airspace, and retransmits it through the Internet so that city dwellers can tune into live TV for free. As you might expect, not everyone is excited.

Several days after Netflix said it liked the idea of potentially partnering with cable and satellite providers to make Netflix an integrated part of their services, the largest cable operator has come forward to say, "Thanks but no thanks." The company apparently feels it's good enough on its own, and doesn't like the idea of partnering with a service that many people see as a direct competitor.

So, before there was Netflix, there were dedicated digital cable channels that allowed cable subscribers to watch various TV shows and movies for free, usually with some sort of ad-supported structure. Right now, if you're like most cable users in the country, you're probably thinking, "Oh yeah, that's right. There are on-demand channels that I can access from my cable box." The problem is you never actually go there to watch anything. And here are some numbers to prove that.

In a move that simply had to start happening sooner or later, the folks at Time Warner Cable have announced that they'll be streaming content to Android devices starting at the end of March 2012. This service was announced in a very low-key Twitter update by Time Warner Cable's own Director of Digital Communication in New York City, Jeff Simmermon. The move to Android for streaming content will come via the most updated version of the Google mobile operating system software Android 4.0 Ice Cream Sandwich.

Reportedly just in today from Bloomberg, Verizon Wireless’s current negotiations for spectrum with cable companies are under governmental scrutiny by the U.S. Justice Department, for their possibility of being detrimental to competition in both the cable and wireless industries. The Justice Department is allegedly looking at whether Verizon would have too much control of the spectrum, and whether some components of the deal would potentially violate antitrust laws.